Saturday, November 3, 2012

Important update on Sandy re closed & relocated schools!

UPDATE on Sunday evening 8:30 PM:

The ENTIRE list of
101 schools that will be closed tomorrow Monday Nov. 5 is here: http://shar.es/G1oLa This is either because
these schools are serving as shelters, are damaged from the storm, or still lack power.

There are eight HS buildings that are currently serving as shelters where students should NOT come to school until at least Wednesday, when hopefully the shelters will have moved. Brooklyn Technical HS, John Jay Educational Campus and FDR HS in Brooklyn; Graphic Communication Arts and George Washington
Educational Campus in Manhattan; Hillcrest High School in Queens; and
Tottenville HS and Susan E. Wagner HS in Staten Island. Check the DOE page here for updates.

The
list of schools that are seriously damaged and their relocation sites is here: http://shar.es/G1WcN Parents:
please DO NOT send your child to any of these schools until Wednesday.

There
is also a handy school finder on the DOE webpage where you can search your
child’s school and see its status: http://shar.es/G11sE

Many
other schools are expected to be without heat on Monday. Bloomberg has said
that you should send your children to school with a sweater, just in case.

While every effort will be made to meet limited-time travel mandates,
traffic jams and long rides are likely. Due to temporary arrangements
resulting from Hurricane Sandy, please be aware of the following
considerations for students with specialized transportation needs:

There may be limited availability of mandated support staff such as paraprofessionals, attendants, and nurses

Direct communications with buses will be limited

It is possible that mandated medical equipment will be unavailable on some routes

Schools should advise parents to expect extended call-hold times for OPT and customer service

In cases where streets are impassable, pick-up locations may be changed

High school students will receive free MetroCards so they can travel to their new school locations.

Principals should refer families with transportation issues to the OPT hotline: 718-392-8855

___

Earlier message from Saturday Nov. 3:

I hope you are all recovering from Hurricane Sandy; I just got my power restored last night here in Greenwich Village, though there are still nearly one quarter of a million NYC residents and more than a million households in the tri-state area without power or heat.

Immeasurable damage has occurred to people’s homes and even more tragically, lives have been lost, but I wanted to update you on new developments as regards the NYC public schools:

On Monday, most NYC public schools will resume classes. However, there are 57 schools that have suffered “severe damage” according to the DOE, and have to be re-located to other buildings. The list of schools that will be closed until further notice and their re-location sites are posted as an spreadsheet on the DOE website here. For those who cannot access spreadsheets, I have also posted this list on my website as a word doc and as a pdf.

However, students in the closed schools will NOT be attending classes until Wednesday, to make sure that their new buildings are ready for them. DOE says they will provide updates early in the week about transportation; teachers are expected at these new sites on Monday and Tuesday.

All public schools are closed for classes on Tuesday for Election Day, as previously planned.

There is another, even longer list of schools that as of last night (Friday) lacked power; many of them have had their power restored already but many have not.

The list of schools that were undamaged but lacked power as of Friday (as a spreadsheet) is posted here. As a pdf on my website, it is here. Check back on the DOE website over the weekend for updates as to which of these schools may NOT be reopening on Monday.

I dearly hope you and your family members and loved ones are all safe and sound. Please feel free to email me if you have questions about this, and I will try to find out answers for you.

Contact key education policymakers

Contact Board of Regents members' emails below.Click here to find your StateSenator; here for your AssemblymemberClick here to find your City Council member; click here to see contact information for Council members on Education CommitteeFor all your elected reps, click hereSpeaker Carl Heastie